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Brianna’s trip from the balcony to the stage occurred in a haze of numbness and fear. She was carried over the shoulder of her husband’s friend, only vaguely aware of Lukus stopping to feed his security code into keypads as they passed through several locked doors.
She suspected she should be struggling to get away. For a moment she had the ridiculous hope of calling for help. But her cell phone was in the car, and even if she had it, who would she call? Her brother? Her parents? She couldn’t imagine facing them with the shame of what she’d done.
What about Tiffany? Under normal circumstances, the answer would have been an unequivocal yes, but tonight Brianna wasn’t so sure. Hadn’t Tiffany warned Brianna repeatedly that she was playing with fire? Her refusal to call the police when Jake had arrived at the shop and the resulting repeat infidelity caused friction between the best friends.
God, I wish I’d listened to her. Blackmail or not, whatever happens now, I deserve it.
The dance music was much louder in the club again when Lukus finally stopped walking and unceremoniously dumped Brianna on her ass. She was horrified by what she saw. They were backstage, but the area was a replica of the same dungeon on the stage, with a few extras.
She was struck again by the reality of her situation. This was no theater. There were no porn stars waiting to go on-stage to perform. There was no make-up or dressing rooms. This club was one big punishment dungeon. And it was here she would be made to pay for her sins.
Three waist-high metal cages lined the wall. They looked like large dog kennels to Brianna—only at The Punishment Pit they were clearly used to lock up submissives. One of the cages was occupied by a girl tied in a way that had her pussy and ass sticking out of a two-by-two hole in the cage. The lewd display had an obvious, depraved logic; with her bottom so presented, the girl’s Master could punish or fuck her at his whim.
Bri had been too entranced by the sights around her to notice that Derek had joined them backstage. He was squatting down right in front of Brianna, sizing her up. “You’re the fucking bitch who was stupid enough to cheat on Markus. You must really have shit for brains. I’d be saying my prayers now if I were you.”
Brianna remained silent. What was there to say? She had no idea how Markus found out about Jake, but now that he knew, it seemed pointless to fight.
Derek moved to stand beside Lukus. They spent a few minutes huddled together, talking too quietly for her to make out what they were saying.
As she was straining to listen, she glanced across the room near the door to the stage. Kneeling quietly near the door was the slave girl who had been on stage at Lukus’s feet. The girl’s eyes were obediently lowered, but as Brianna watched her closely, she shot Bri what might be interpreted as a reassuring smile. It was the first bit of comfort Bri had felt since entering the building.
The men stopped talking and returned to Bri. Lukus squatted down at eye level, and when she failed to look at him, he reached out and almost tenderly placed his hand under her chin, raising her face up to meet his steely gaze. They sized each other up for a few seconds before he laid out what was about to happen. “Just for the record, you should know I don’t agree with the course of action Markus has asked me to take with you tonight, Brianna. Personally, I’d like to take you out there and spend the next three days putting you through every conceivable punishment my sick mind can think up. Unfortunately, I can’t because you aren’t a member of the club and Markus wants to protect Derek and me. Here’s how this is gonna work. I’m going to drag your ass out to center stage and string you up to the whipping post. Then I’m going to lay out your crimes along with all of the evidence against you. You’re then going to be given a choice of signing one of two pieces of paper. Personally, I’d love to force you to sign them both, but Markus has made it clear to me I only need you to sign one.”
He stopped long enough to make sure Bri was still paying attention before continuing on. “The first piece of paper is a standard contract that all members sign when they join The Punishment Pit. It outlines the rules of the club and grants legal consent for Master Derek and me to punish members in any way we deem appropriate, for as long as we feel appropriate. Every member is given a safeword, which they can invoke at any time, and when they do, the punishment stops while we evaluate. If their life is not threatened and I think they’re just trying to escape, the punishment continues until I say it's done. We don't play games here. Of course, we can't force members to stay. They can resign their membership if they disagree with my decision."
Brianna felt a surge of hope knowing they wouldn’t touch her unless she signed a contract. She realized now that Markus was likely representing the club over some dispute with a member.
“Why would I knowingly sign a paper giving you legal permission to beat the shit out of me? Do you think I’m stupid?” Her voice was small even as she tried to sound brave.
“As much as I look forward to lighting up your ass, I honestly hope you don’t sign my contract,” Lukus replied. “I’d much rather you sign the second piece of paper—a letter of intent to proceed with an immediate, uncontested divorce. Markus is in pain and he just wants closure as quickly as possible. Against my advice, he’s offering you one get-out-of-jail-free card to avoid your extended stay here at the Shangri-la. All you have to do is sign the intent to divorce papers and we cut you loose. You’ll be out of our lives, and out of Markus’s, for good. Hell, I’ll even be a prince and let you use my cell phone to call someone to come pick you up.”
As Brianna absorbed his words, she swore she could hear the pounding of her own heart. She knew she should have been grateful that she was being given any choice at all, but the realization that Markus had put into motion paperwork for a quick divorce in the space of just a few hours cut her to the core. Until Lukus said the ‘D’ word, she’d been holding out hope that Markus would cool down and possibly give her a chance to explain once she was punished.
Lukus didn’t bother to wait for her answer. Instead he dragged Bri to her feet, sandwiching her between the two muscular men briefly before Derek grabbed her and threw her over his shoulder.
“Don’t forget,” Lukus told his partner as they headed to the stage. “If she chooses option one, she’s all mine and then you’ll have just one job tonight, Derek—to make sure I don’t lose control and kill the bitch. I swear to God, I’m going to whip her raw.” His words were menacing, but Bri suspected her husband’s friend was just trying to scare her in an attempt to coerce her into signing the quickie divorce papers.
At least I pray that’s what he’s doing.
As they burst through the door to the stage, Brianna could feel the heat of the hot spotlights through her little black dress. She couldn’t see the audience from her vantage point over Derek’s shoulder, but she could tell the curtains must still be open because the club was quickly quieting down and the music was lowered.
Derek sauntered to the heavy whipping post and unceremoniously dumped Bri from his shoulder. As she teetered on her heels, he reached up and pulled down manacles attached to a hook high on the whipping post. Fight or flight instincts told her to put up a fight, but his tattooed muscles flexing as he brought the chain lower convinced her fighting was futile. He locked each of Brianna’s wrists into the heavy metal restraints, immobilizing her arms above her head.
When Bri realized she was facing the audience, she slammed her eyes closed, trying to shut out the horror of her situation. Testing her confinement, she conceded there would be no escape until the angry men allowed it.
Lukus paced the stage as he addressed the audience. “Members, tonight I have the unpleasant job of putting the wife of one of my oldest friends on trial for her infidelity to her husband. Tonight was supposed to be a celebration for her husband, Derek, and me. Instead I’ve been asked to make sure the little whore understands the severity of hersituation.” He moved over to her, so close now she could feel his warm breath as he leaned in to whisper in her ear. “You make your choice yet, sweetheart? You taking door number one or door number two?”
Bri refused to open her eyes as she answered in a voice loud enough for only her captor to hear. “Fuck you, Lukus. I’m not signing anything and you can’t touch me or I’ll sue your ass so fast, you won’t know what hit you.”
She could hear his sharp intake of breath followed by a slow, long exhale. The unexpected intimacy sent a shiver through her entire body, drawing a low laugh from Lukus. He stepped away from her and continued to address the club. “What Brianna here doesn’t understand is that running the club is just my hobby. Myday jobis owning one of the most successful private investigation and security firms in the entire Chicagoland area.”
She felt his glare on her as he continued.
“You thought you were being so careful, but several months ago Markus came to me to ask for my help. He didn’t have anything concrete, but he just had a feeling that you’d cheated on him. See, he noticed what looked like faint cane or riding crop marks on your ass when you were in the shower and since he knew you didn’t get them from him, he decided he might want to find out what the hell was going on.”
With this new information, Brianna’s eyes flew open. She saw Lukus smiling smugly at her. She’d been so careful and now to find out that Markus had seen the welts from her disastrous earlier tryst was alarming.
Sensing her disbelief, Lukus addressed her directly again. “That’s right, bitch. Your husband had started to suspect things months ago. I really do have to hand it to you. We’d pretty much given up tailing you because you’d managed to keep yourself clean. We didn’t trace any calls between you and any another man. We didn’t see you meeting anyone. There were no suspicious charges on your credit cards. All in all, you looked to be the perfect, doting wife. Until today that is.”
